For a group of people that is incapable of managing even the simplest systems, Chavismo has proven quite adept at establishing controls systems for everything. It is truly amazing how they can be so creative and inventive to establish very complicated systems to monitor and control, but are incapable of managing a simple supply chain for example, for an arepera.
Yesterday, I was praising Chavismo in private, because for the first time, they were actually going to remove some layers of controls for imports, removing certain steps to request certificates necessary for any import request, as well as extending the validity of current certificates until December 31st.
But my joy lasted a very short time, when I learned today about the new invention of the CADIVI “creativity” department to stop the “raspaito” of credit cards without traveling. As you know, people are buying airline tickets, requesting the CADIVI dollars for travel and not using them (This requires folders, going to the bank, wasting half a day, going online many times, etc..). They take their credit card, send it with someone or have someone use it for them and voila, they exchange those dollars bought at Bs. 6.3 per US$ and sell it at a huge profit at six times that rate in the unmentionable market. With the difference, the price of the ticket is almost irrelevant.
Well, given the truculent mind of Chavista officials, here is what they are planning to do to stop “raspaitos”: They will set up fingerprint units at all international exit points of the country in airports, ports, roads. Then, as you exit immigration, you will activate your credit card with your fingerprint. The system will be connected to the national credit card system. In this fashion, the theory goes, only people that actually leave the country will have their credit card activated.
Except…
-What if the system is down when you leave?
-What if there is no electricity that day?
-What if the connection is down?
-There is no law stopping you from leaving the country and immediately going thru immigration, missing your flight and activating the card in the process.
and so many others…
And, of course, there will be a cost to implementing this whole thing, but who cares, we will have Patria and fingerprint systems and they will feel good about it!
The Devil's Excrement 
September 28, 2013 at 11:29 pm
There is an additional toll booth for travelers… Now SAIME says that in order to travel, you need a passport that has at least 6 months before expiring, see here:
http://www.saime.gob.ve/para-viajar-pasaporte-electronico-debe-tener-seis-meses-de-vigencia-antes-de-su-vencimiento/
But in fact different countries have different requirements, for example US says that as long as your passport is valid until you leave, there is no problem. Many people suddenly have realized that they will be traveling with passports that have less than 6 months left, so they have requested new passports appointments, overloading again the SAIME offices…
September 28, 2013 at 11:36 pm
OOPs, in the US case I meant until you leave from US, see here:
http://spanish.caracas.usembassy.gov/es/visas/niv/preguntas-frecuentes.html
¿Cuánto tiempo de vigencia debe tener mi pasaporte para poder viajar?
Los Estados Unidos requieren que los pasaportes de ciertos países tengan mínimo de 6 meses de vigencia al momento de viajar. Las personas con pasaporte Venezolano están exentas de esta regla de los 6 meses de vigencia. Solo necesitarán de su pasaporte y visa válidas al momento de viajar.
Recuerde que el tiempo de estadía en EEUU lo determina el oficial de inmigración. Sin embargo, el pasaporte debe estar vigente durante el tiempo que permanezca en los Estados Unidos.
September 28, 2013 at 7:24 pm
Control can be both mental AND physical.
We have been blessed with IMAGINED restraint,
We are entertained everyday by prancing
officials jumping from one spot to the next
playing a childish game of musical chairs.
The Con-Trolled music stopped in april.
Yes the Con keeps on Trolling.
And yet, the impossible dream died in april.
The shadows keep flitting on the screen,
Trapped inhabitants with no planes to catch,
Phantom dollars offered for pie-in-the-sky rates,
and yet the Strong B.S. [Bs.F]
is not enough with which to feed our nation.
The shambles that we see, are but the
involuntary tremors of this dying political Con.
An agonizing regime, [agonizando de verdad]
is stonewalling.
Will we live to paper our walls with our currency?
God forbid!
September 28, 2013 at 7:41 pm
Stonewalling is a refusal to communicate or cooperate.
September 28, 2013 at 3:38 am
The poor are happy because they got Maduro. They dont care about money. They are getting a free house with refridgerator one day soon.
September 27, 2013 at 9:42 pm
And the parallel rate will increase even higher because of this. I wonder what would happen in Venezuela if oil prices get lower for a while. One thing is certain, lifting the control, which is urgent, would imply an official floating rate so high that most current CADIVI travelers could never afford it. But this is necessary and the more this is delayed the worse for the peoplem, especially the poor.
September 27, 2013 at 11:46 pm
Well, Venezuela can always sell those Argetine bonds Chavez “invested” the people’s money in.
September 27, 2013 at 11:48 pm
… I’m sure they will fetch pennies on the dollar.
(sorry for breaking up the comment)
September 27, 2013 at 8:29 pm
The amazing thing is that everything comes from the fact that there is a control exchange. If there weren’t, none of these complicated schemes and burocracy would exist. I wonder how much the control exchange really cost to the State. Is it really worth it?
September 28, 2013 at 8:03 am
Bruni,
If there were no control exchange, Chavismo would collapse in no time.
Aristóbulo Istúriz was right when he said so…but not for the reasons he claimed. Having free exchange would benefit the country, but it would require a dramatic initial change that would mean 1) a lot of people becoming enormously rich now would stop getting free money – they are among the main defenders of this government, even if they dress smartly and live in the poshest areas and don’t wear red and sometimes would claim to be oppo-) and 2) the government would lose a lot of help from outside, as imports would dramatically collapse and 3) there would be initial hardship among everyone (even if this is necessary).
I am completely for liberating controls, like Miguel. But I think few have thought through what the consequences would be of lifting the control now
for Chavismo. It is not possible for it to do it. It would mean its destruction, period. Only those efficient would survive and they are the least efficient.
Companies that do produce would start producing more and would gain clout, a lot of clout. The government cannot allow that.
No authoritarian leftist regime has lived without currency control.
The control was in place in the Soviet Union and in Hungary. The Soviet Union had more air to breathe because of COMECON and the simple fact it was not promoting imports from anywhere (as it didn’t need to choke the private industries it had, it didn’t)
China is not to be compared with this because China is now a mostly capitalist system with state control and undervalued currency, which creates a completely different dynamic.
September 27, 2013 at 8:22 pm
This business of the fingerprint reader is fishy and redundant since in the Venezuela airports we already have in place the biometric or electronic passport to record who leaves the country.
September 28, 2013 at 7:52 am
We’ll have to see if David Cabello (Diosdado’s brother) or Cardena’s brother/son/nephew have a company in this area.
September 27, 2013 at 3:34 pm
I heard that all flights are fully sold out for months! Can somebody please confirm?
September 27, 2013 at 3:36 pm
Yes, it is quite difficult to find flights. We were trying to send someone to Bogota for work for two days and could not do it until the second half of the month. Certain destinations are more difficult than others.
September 27, 2013 at 5:04 pm
Even for Cuba. You would not be able to find a ticket for the rest of the year
September 27, 2013 at 3:00 pm
And don’t forget the most important part, of course someone gets another juicy contract!
September 27, 2013 at 2:21 pm
I went to get my passport renewed this week, and it literally took an hour to take my fingerprints…
September 27, 2013 at 2:17 pm
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